President Joe Biden’s proposed $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill is fueling debate among economists about whether it will spark a nasty spike in inflation.
The consensus view is that the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) inflation rate—which is the measure that the Federal Reserve uses in its desired target of a 2 percent “average” rate for the economy—will rise to 1.9 percent in 2021 and 2.0 percent in 2023. In December 2020, PCE stood at 1.3 percent in annualized terms, according to the St. Louis Fed.
